Dear Pat: My family and I had dinner at Il Sogno a while back and enjoyed one of the best things we've ever eaten. They served an appetizer consisting of a bed of creamy polenta topped with pulled pork and a fried egg. It was amazing. Any chance you could get the recipe? Thank you very much.

Dear Jim: This is an example of the extravagant lengths to which chefs such as Il Sogno's Andrew Weissman go to bring us such tantalizing, over-the-top food. But note the ingredients — pulled pork, polenta (Italian cornmeal) and a fried egg. All humble products, but in Weissman's kitchen, they're taken to new heights.

The pulled pork for this recipe, as prepared by chef Weissman, begins with the roasting of a whole pig. OK, relax, he does not expect us to go “whole hog,” but he does suggest cooking a pig's head. As Weissman says, the head is “actually relatively easy to acquire in San Antonio.” And he's right. If you're game, pig heads are available in some H-E-B stores and at Latin grocery stores. He does not suggest using other more common cuts such as pork shoulder or meaty country-style ribs, though if you want to substitute them, they would work.

Many North American chefs are returning to the tradition of using every part of the animal, nose to tail, in their menus — back to the way people have cooked for centuries. Cuts such as the head are inexpensive, and the stock that results from braising the head is unbelievably good. That stock is the secret for preparing the phenomenal sauce that's spooned over the polenta.

The head is braised slow and low, at a mere 300 degrees for at least five hours. In the end, you'll have lots of that valuable pork stock, and a relatively small amount of meat from the cheeks and tongue (sufficient for the dish, however). You'll cook down part of the stock along with marsala wine and garlic to make the sauce. Stow the remaining stock in the freezer for future use. Both the silky cheek meat and the tongue are shredded and stirred into the sauce.

Why go to such lengths? Chefs know the value of bones and cartilage, both of which are plentiful in the head. When braised, the bones exude extraordinary flavor. The cartilage, which contains gelatin, is a natural and highly effective thickener. Together, they impart a peerless, velvety texture to the sauce. The sauce with the meat is served spooned onto Weissman's creamy, cheesy polenta. A fried egg is set atop, crowning the whole.

So yes — admittedly, it's rich, best served as an appetizer. And yes — it's a long way to go for a seemingly simple, homey dish. But give it a try, and you'll be rewarded with a stunning bit of kitchen alchemy.